Countdown
by jefronp
Summary: Beck & Jade broke up, he left for a month & then returned only for both of them to find out they were both in another relationship. And now it's a competition to see who will reach the breaking point & give in first.


_Disclaimer: I don't own Victorious or Outlaw by Selena Gomez & The Scene (this song's a HUGE part of the story though. Part of my inspiration for it. That and the episode that was on last night)._

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><p><strong>Beck.<strong>

It hurt.

Breaking up with Jade.

That hurts like hell, you know.

And to end a four-year relationship like that? It was just an indescribable feeling.

I heard from Tori (her like uber best friend all of a sudden) that she had or was in the process of writing a song.

I on the other hand was just in my RV, moping around. My mother had become worried at one point, since she hadn't really seen my face in the house for like a week.

Which was how long Jade and I have been broken up for.

She didn't know what was going on… so I was forced to tell her.

Then she decided she had to make a phone call (totally out of the freakin' blue if you ask me) and left hurriedly. For what reason, I don't know.

About an hour later, she came back.

"Get up and get packed." She said, "You're going away for the month."

Okaaaayyy, random.

"What about school?" I asked her, and she shrugged.

"Don't you think going to see your best friend is much more important?" And that's when I _realized_ what she'd done. You know after giving me the mother relationship pep talk most mothers are forced to do at one point or another, she had called my dad (who lived in New York) and had arranged with him a trip for me to visit my best friend.

I could. Hardly. Fucking. Wait.

As I packed my bags (I was leaving first thing in the morning) I decided to ask. "Am I supposed to just make up my work when I get back?"

My mother nodded. "Email your teachers, do whatever you can, so when you get back it's not too much."

Sweet.

My parents were like _never_ this lenient on me about school. Usually they were pretty hard on me, expected me to get the good grades, blah, blah, blah. They also weren't really down to send me to Canada much as I had school, and Jade and I were together… and all that bullshit that was my life before. I guess my mother (and I believe this more so than my father) had at least some sympathy for me, so to send me away like that for a month…

Well, that was an indescribable feeling.

My mother left the RV to go make dinner or something, so I quickly picked up my phone and called my best (American) friend, Andre.

"Yo! What's up, bro?" I heard some sort of piano in the background stop abruptly. "How you doin?"

"Andre try not to miss me for the next month…" I began, "And let Tori and Robbie know, but not Jade."

"Okay… what's going on?"

"I'm going to Canada for a month."

"Oh really?" I nodded even though he couldn't see me. "But what about school?"

"My mom and I got that figured out. Just wanted to let you know, have a good month bro."

"No contact whatsoever?"

"Well, with you of course, but not in person."

"Obviously."

It was awkwardly silent for a few minutes before I finally said, "Alright, well I gotta go, mom wants to talk to me." Lame excuse, but it worked. "I'll text you later."

"Sounds good man." And with that, he hung up.

**Jade.**

I don't know how or why, but one minute, I'm in school, the next I'm singing songs in Tori's living room with her and Robbie.

What the hell happened?

Although, I had to admit it was fun. I mean it got my mind off a lot of things… my parents, family drama, relationship drama….the breakup…_Beck_.

It was weird not receiving a text from him. It had been going on for like a week now, and I haven't gotten one, not _one _text.

And it hurt.

"Okay, okay." Tori laughed, "Let's do a Katy Perry song next… Jade, you're like the pro at these songs, will you sing them?"

I nodded, "Sure." I said and Robbie looked up at me.

"What song?"

"Good question." I thought about it for a moment, before I finally decided on one. "California Girls."

We were really into it, playing with Robbie's guitar for about another hour, "rehearsing" and learning to play other songs, when my phone beeped.

_Jade_ – Andre

_What? _

_Don't expect to see Beck for about another month_. – Andre

_Why? _

_Because he's going to Canada - _Andre

My heart stopped. What? He couldn't just leave… could he?

And even though I cared (more than a lot) I texted back:

_Whatever, I don't care. He can do whatever he wants. _

It wasn't long before I got another response:

_You and I both know that's not true. Stop bullshittin' me –_ Andre

I didn't bother responding after that, I just abruptly threw my phone to the other side of the room and fell to the ground, my knees bent, my face close to my thighs, my hands covering me from Tori and Robbie who looked concerned.

"Jade?"

I looked up at her, tears in my eyes. "Beck's leaving." I whispered and she looked at Robbie.

"What? Where's he going?"

"To _fucking _Canada." I spoke colder than I meant to. "He doesn't want to fix anything, he just wants to leave. Well, fine. If that's what he wants… then I'll let him go."

Tori looked at Andre for a moment, before turning back to me. "Are you sure about that?"

I nodded.

"More sure than I've ever been in my life."

**Beck. **

I was nervous, like really, really nervous. I hadn't been here in maybe four years. Not since she'd left for boarding school. I had visited one year when she dropped the news on me.

I wasn't so happy about it, but then again, I had no right to be pissed off as I'd moved already to Los Angeles.

She and I got into a fight, and for about two weeks, we didn't talk. Until I couldn't take it anymore and apologized to her and made things better between us again.

So, now here I was, back in Canada. I took a deep breath, and knocked on the door. I heard the sound of giggling (I could _never_ forget it) and then the door opened. The giggling instantly stopped as I saw _her_ and two other girls behind her.

"B-Beck?" Her eyes were wide, as she stared at me. "What are you doing here?"

"I came here for a visit." I responded, shrugging my shoulders. "I'm staying at my old house up the road and… well, I wanted to see my best friend."

She turned around for a moment, whispering something in French to the two girls, and then turned back to me, stepping outside.

"Beck… I wasn't expecting your visit." She said once she closed the door. "I uhm, sort of have friends over."

I nodded, "That's okay. I can just go home, but I just wanted to you know, say hi. See what's up, how you were doing, you know… all that."

She looked up and smiled at me, a weak smile, but a smile nonetheless. "I'm alright. What about you?"

"Could be better." She tiltled her head, and looked at me.

"What about your…" She snapped her fingers for a moment, as if trying to remember, "your girlfriend?"

"We broke up."

Her eyes widened, she then immediately grabbed my hand, opening the door, she pulled me inside, yelling something else in French again, and then we went upstairs to her bedroom.

"Alright, Beck." She said, once she closed the door. "Talk."

"About what? Jade and I broke up… what's there to talk about?"

"Is that why you're here?" She asked him, "Because you guys broke up?"

Part of it, but I wasn't about to tell her that.

"My mom thought it'd be good for me if I came home and visited you… I missed you, so she suggested it. Plus you know how my parents are, really picky about this sort of thing."

"Yeah… how long are you here for?"

"A month."

Her eyes widened. "A month?"

"Yeah."

She took a deep breath again, and then sat down. "I know you're sad and all, but trust me… heartbreak… it does get better."

I sat down next to her, "Yeah, I remember you telling me that four years ago."

"Well, was I right?" I nodded.

"Very right."

"Okay." She grinned again and hugged me. "I'm sorry about acting like a bitch before, I just wasn't expecting you to come and—"

"It's alright, really."

She smiled at me for a moment, before standing up, "Come on, Beck. Let's go hang out downstairs."

"With your friends?" She nodded. "Who only speak French?"

"They speak English too. We just speak in French sometimes because we all took a class together at school and just fell in love with the language. Come on, I'll even teach you some if you want."

I smiled, "Really? You? A teacher?"

She just rolled her eyes. "Don't get cocky, Oliver. I'm actually really good."

"Yeah. Sure, I'd like to see it."

She smirked, "Fine."

And with that, we walked downstairs where she introduced me to her friends and let me into her world for the first time since middle school.

**One month later… **

**Jade. **

"Stop! Stop!" I laughed, pushing my boyfriend off me as best I could, since he was crushing me. "Tori's gonna come in here, like any second!"

"Why?" Marco asked me as I shook my head.

"Because we agreed to meet before class starts. I promise, I'll make it up to you later." I winked at him, and he smiled.

"Deal."

The classroom door opened then and Tori walked in, a smile on her face .

"Hey!" She immediately hugged me.

Tori and I, believe it or not got closer the last month. I leaned on her before with the break up, and this second one was no exception. Letting go of him was hard, but with Tori, Robbie, Marco and Andre's help, I was able to get through it easier.

Really, I had great, amazing friends.

"Ready to go over this song?" Tori asked me and I nodded, ripping myself from Marco I took the seat beside the one she took just before me and tapped my finger on my knee.

"_You've been riding this horse a long time, why can't you've been looking for? Always greener on the other side, always believing there must be something more. Never stay there alone anwhere, as the next girl you leave, gets smaller, in your rearview mirror.._" I began to sing, and Tori smiled at me, taking on the next part.

"_You're an outlaw, you're an outlaw, you're an outlaw…_" I stopped her then and then pointed to the next part.

"I was thinking we should say something like, _you tear the world apart, no regrets. If there's a key to your heart, no one's found it yet_."

"I love it!" She said, and quickly wrote it down. "It's really a relief that we have most of the song finished already."

"I know, right?" The bell rang then, and more students started to come in. Sikowitz came into the classroom too, just as Marco kissed me goodbye and went to his class. He was about to speak, when the door was opened again, and everyone turned to see who it was.

Oh… _shit_.

"Hey, Sikowitz…"

It was two people actually. One I didn't recognize (then again, I don't think _anyone _did) and the other… well, it's pretty obvious who it is, isn't it?

"Hey, Beck…" Tori said, waving her hand slightly. "You're uh… you're back!"

"Yup." He said, and then took a seat _directly behind me_, the girl he was with sitting next to him.

"Dude, why are you—"

"I'm Courtney." The girl said, holding her hand out towards Andre as he looked at her, a bit taken aback by her forwardness. "But you can call me Cat. I'm Beck's… _girlfriend_."

What?

I mean, sure I had a boyfriend, but what the hell gave Beck the right to have a girlfriend? What the actual fuck was going on?

Although, to be honest, she did seem a bit hesitant as she said it.

"Hey, Cat. I'm Tori." She said, turning around, ignoring my glare as she gave a pointed look back at me. She motioned for me to say something with her head and even though I didn't want to… I just sucked it up and did it anyways.

"I'm Jade." I told her, shaking her hand and she (for some reason) smiled warmly at me. Well, warmer than anyone else, I noticed.

"It's nice to finally meet you." Then Andre and Robbie introduced herself, as did Sikowitz, while I engaged in a stare down with Beck.

"Nice to see you." I said, to be polite (which wasn't really my style, but hey someone had to be the bigger person, right?)

"You too." He said, narrowing his eyes. "What's new?"

"Not much…" I said nonchalantly tracing my finger on the edge of the seat. "Got a boyfriend. Guess we're not too much different after all, _are we_?"

This time it was _Beck _who looked taken a back. That's what he'd said when we broke up, that we were too "different". Well, guess who showed who?

"No." He finally said, his expression not changing. "Guess not."

"Good."

"Good." He responded, back annoyingly as I straightened myself in the chair again and faced forward.

"Fine."

I was now pissed off. "_Fine_."

And with that, Sikowitz started his lesson.

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><p><em>And the drama begins, right? Lolz.<em>

_Or really the "tension."_

_Didya notice (from my previous stories) that Cat was the best friend he went to see, before I introduced her to everyone else? Lol. It's a bit AU as she's never been to Hollywood Arts and doesn't even go there. But yeah, it'll be explained later._

_Just know this: Cat and Beck have a very, very interesting relationship._

_And that is all._

_Interesting, isn't it?_

_Toodles!_


End file.
